Journaling

In a perfect world I could share all aspects of my life and thoughts on my blog. But in the times we live in it may not be wise because people sometimes take information and use it for unsafe purposes. I'm going to try to blog more to share my thoughts in this walk called life. I'm on summer vacation. This is my 4th week. If you've been following this blog you know I always have lists of things to do and often don't complete them all as planned. This year I finally had the tree cut in the front of my house. I miss the branches with it's shade that helps keep the house cool in summer. Although I won't miss sweeping up as many leaves in fall. It'll fill out again, hopefully not too fast.

I got an estimate of having the trim on the outside of my house done. Now to contact the painter to come and start. There were some areas I wanted to do. Why paint anything if you're hiring a painter? I love to paint and some areas seemed labor intensive like treating and removing rust on a gate that may be time consuming. It wasn't and I cleaned and did a little sanding on the rust before applying rust removal. Days later I wiped off the gate again and painted it. What a difference it made. Time will tell how good preparation and application of paint was.

I also did a wood door and surrounding trim. The other side of the door still has to be done and spaces filled between the frame and door with calking. Thought spaces were large enough to insert wood shims but they weren't so I'll use caulking. One small part of the trim has rotted so I'll have to decide what to do with that since I won't be replacing the frame or trim right away. Other home repairs are more important. I discovered wood epoxy which can be sanded and painted. A project for another day before winter with snow and ice so The wood can be sealed and pained for protection. Hopefully this will be the only area with damage.

I live in a old town home in the city. We call them row homes but it seems real estate now call them town homes as though this sounds better. My house is brick with the front exterior covered in stucco. Not my choice but that of the previous home owners. I believe I'm the 3rd person to own this home with a husband and wife who divorced and sold the home to me being the second owner. I'm told the previous owners were a elderly couple.

The house is old in the colonial style with wood moldings and trim, wood floors, large windows that keep the house bright which I love. A fire place in the living room which drew me to the house when I was house hunting and a sun porch and nice sized back yard for a home in the city. Our neighborhood is changing as many around the country. Buying a house here is now about 4 times more than what I paid when I bought mine. Can't imagine spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house but many do and have that type of income. The larger the home the more maintenance and expenses and at this time in my life I think I chose well as each year is a new year of age and I'm learning that less material things are sometimes more. There are a variety of homes in the neighborhood. New construction, colonial, Victorian, Greek revival, and others.

I love that I can walk a short distance and visit historic homes and see the chickens walking in the yard at Grumblethorpe, shop at farm stands, and enjoy what other gardeners are doing with their gardening spaces and front yards and stoops. Philadelphia has a lot to explore and lots of entertainment whether live entertainment, plays, music, restaurants, museums, historic homes and sites, even a circus school in Germantown where you can be taught how to use the trapeze. It's interesting driving by the school and seeing people fly through the air. Our neighborhood is changing for the better and that's good since I'm blooming where I'm planted. Still long to live in a wooded area but that's a dream that may not be full filled or practical. I just have to visit these types of settings more and we have many in the city. Philadelphia is the gardening capital of the country with 30 public garden spaces, arboreta, and historic landscapes within 30 miles of the city. 

There are always repairs and maintenance living in a old house. Although all homes have to be maintained or they'll deteriorate. Before I return to work I hope to have the painting finished and some other painting indoors that I'll do to freshen up. What's on my to do list? Hire someone to finish tiling the kitchen floor. Spend saved monetary gift from Christmas on a new stove. New light fixtures for the kitchen and sunporch. Hire someone to remove a few items from a basement room and give a good cleaning before getting estimates to have the room cemented floors and walls. It also needs brick and stone work. Have to keep the foundation of the house stable. Continue to declutter and go through items for the Good Will so that rooms used for storage can be used as a guest bedroom again and a walk in closet room. Some things on this list are priority, some will wait till spring.

I have some old white wood boarder fencing that I'd like to put around the area of the tree out front. I'd prefer iron fencing but I'll see how it looks and holds up over winter. It can always be taken down. In the fall I plan on planting narcissus among the ivy for a beautiful spring display. That should be pretty although it'll be difficult digging holes with tree roots. One good thing is that I won't have to worry about critters eating narcissus. They won't eat them although they may dig some up.

What do I do for entertainment? Spend time with family, reading, blogging, going out for dinner, gardening, visiting other gardens, shopping, cooking. I haven't traveled out the country in several years and really don't miss the airport process. Although I haven't been on any trips yet this summer, I plan to do a few day trips before school starts like the Philadelphia Zoo, Amish Country, and maybe a few days at the beach. We went to the zoo in June but didn't stay because unfortunately it was closing early for a beer garden. What does beer have to do with animals?The beach really doesn't draw me like the mountains do but on a family trip you can't always pick your choice. It'll be nicer seeing the fall foliage in the mountains when the weather changes and being outdoors will be more enjoyable.

At the end of summer break I'll be starting at a new school and I'm hopeful that I'll love it. I can walk to work and it's a small school. I'll probably have to drive though because if another nurse is absent I have to drive to the school when it's my turn to administer medication or do a procedure. I'm dreaming of retirement and hopefully this will be the last school I'll be working at before I retire. But that may be 7-10 years from now if my health allows. Life and what happens can't always be planned.